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This morning, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is flat in pre-market hours as investors prepare for a busy schedule of speeches from members of the Federal Reserve.

On Thursday, the Dow added 35 points thanks to a strong surge in financial stocks. The banking sector rallied after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen hinted that the central bank will likely move on interest rates in the near future. The markets also benefited from positive economic data and signs that U.S. labor markets are tightening.

What's Ahead for the Dow Jones Industrial Average Today

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is projecting small losses as investors prepare for a busy day of speeches and digest a slight uptick in oil prices. Markets reacted positively to Fed Chair Janet Yellen's statement before Congress on Thursday. Yellen said that improving economic data would justify an increase in benchmark interest rates "soon." According to CME Group's FedWatch Tool, the probability of a rate hike in December now sits higher than 90%.

Investors also continue to show positive sentiment over the upcoming presidency of Donald Trump. Tax reform, reduced bureaucracy, and streamlined government could be a big boon for business here in the United States. Money Morning Executive Editor Bill Patalon explains that the next four years could be very profitable to investors. How profitable? Just see for yourself.

The price of oil gained in early trading as markets show increased optimism that OPEC will strike a deal to cap production. Markets cheered progress on Thursday when the Saudi Arabian oil minister predicted that the global oil cartel would bind itself to the framework that OPEC countries developed during its September meeting. OPEC plans to meet in Vienna, Austria, on Nov. 30.

But the big news this morning is happening at Tesla Motors Inc. (Nasdaq: TSLA). On Thursday afternoon shareholders of both Tesla and SolarCity Corp. (Nasdaq: SCTY) voted overwhelmingly to approve a merger between the two organizations. At least 85% of shareholders agreed to the deal, which now sets up the opportunity for Elon Musk to create what he calls "the world's largest sustainable energy company." The deal did face criticism. Some opponents called the deal a "thinly veiled" bailout for SolarCity, which has spent a huge amount of cash and seen its stock fall significantly in 2016.

Stocks to Watch Today, Nov. 18, 2016

Shares of Western Refining (NYSE: WNR) continues to tick up after the company announced it will sell itself to Tesoro Corp. (NYSE: TSO) for $4.1 billion. On Thursday, WNR stock rallied more than 23%.

Shares of LinkedIn Corp. (Nasdaq: LNKD) are in focus after Russia's telecommunications agency announced that it has blocked the social network. According to reports, the company has been in violation of a data privacy law that was enacted by Russian leaders in 2015. The stock has largely been unaffected, as investors are more interested in Microsoft Corp.'s (Nasdaq: MSFT) ongoing dialogue with European leaders over concessions tied to its pending acquisition of LinkedIn. However, Russia's announcement has some speculating that the communications minister may move to block other companies that have violated the privacy rules, including Alphabet Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOGL), Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq: FB), and Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR). LNKD stock was flat in pre-market hours.

In earnings news, Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) stock plunged more than 10% after the company fell well short of top- and bottom-line earnings estimates. The company reported a big decline in same-store sales and continued to struggle in its effort to rebrand. Seasonal sales fell well short of Wall Street expectations.

Meanwhile, shares of Salesforce.com Inc. (NYSE: CRM) rallied more than 6.4% after the company topped Wall Street earnings expectations after the bell on Thursday. The company reported a 25% jump in revenue, a boost fueled by huge gains in sales of cloud-based services and marketing software.

Up Next

When it comes to making money in the market, "getting in" early – before a stock begins to make its decisive move – is the single biggest factor to your success as an investor.

Quickly buying Apple after the June 2013 sell-off, for instance, could have doubled your money. Moving on Valeant the same day we recommended our big "negative bet" against it would've booked you a remarkably fast 700% return.

Garrett Baldwin is a globally recognized research economist, financial writer, and consultant with degrees from Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, Purdue, and Indiana University. He is a seasoned financial and political risk analyst, with a focus on stocks, hedge funds, private equity, blockchain, and housing policy. He has conducted risk assessment projects for clients in 27 countries, and consulted on policy and financial operations for some of the nation's largest financial institutions, including a $1.5 trillion credit fund, a $43 billion credit and auto loan giant, as well as two of the largest Wall Street banks by assets under management.

Garrett joined Money Map Press as an economist and researcher in 2011, specializing in alternative strategies with an emphasis on fundamental and technical analysis.

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Today's Markets

DJIA829.16(3.15%)27,110.98

NASDAQ198.27(2.06%)9,814.08

S&P81.58(2.62%)3,193.93

TSLA21.28(2.46%)885.66

SCTY0.39(18.40%)2.51

WNR0.02(0.06%)36.18

TS0.38(2.57%)15.14

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By submitting your email address you will receive a free subscription to Money Morning and receive Money Morning Profit Alerts. You will also receive occasional special offers from Money Map Press and our affiliates. You can unsubscribe at anytime and we encourage you to read more about our privacy policy.